


A Dystopian Romance

by crescent_gaia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, M/M, Multi, When comics and movies collide, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 14:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2272914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescent_gaia/pseuds/crescent_gaia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate universe, the Senate, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to pass an act that made anybody with superpowers an enemy of the state if decided upon by a committee headed by Senator Stern.  After the events of Iron Man 3 and Winter Soldier, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are declared such enemies along with Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Committee

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Avengers Reverse Big Bang with art by the wonderful and talented leperu which can be found [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2237235). 
> 
> Extremis Tony is based on the comic book storyline more than Iron Man 3. In my head, the two have become mashed together and I'm starting to have problems telling them apart. 
> 
> Also, spoilers for all of AoS. Including a really quick explanation for what the hell Ward was doing. Other than that, please enjoy the ride. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set pre-movies where everything was all nice and non-dramatic. ;)

Tony sighed as he sat in the hall, waiting to be called before Congress for the first time. He was in one of his best suits and was trying his best not to fidget. It was hard, considering that he’d rather be anywhere but here, and looked to Obadiah. His father’s friend and his second in command but not his father but a father figure. He wanted his father, for the first time since he was a kid, and he couldn’t even ask for his dad. _Stupid ass car crash_ was all he could think of. “How much longer are they going to make us wait? We actually have a company to run.”

“Tony,” Obadiah said, putting down his newspaper. “This is Congress; you show up, you answer their questions, and you don’t be a smartass.”

“So I should let you do all the talking?” he asked, smiling at seeing Obadiah’s glare. “Lighten up a small bit. Maybe we can get the annual meeting out of the way too.”

“Tony, this isn’t for that and you know it,” Obadiah said. “This is to determine if you’re a danger to society because of your mind.”

“I’m not about to shoot myself up with a drug so I can become a big green monster thing.” He paused. “I need to remind myself not to mention that it’s cool to the committee.”

“Yes, please, do that,” Obadiah said. “It’s only because of what Doctor Banner did that they passed the Superhuman Act or whatever it’s called. But we’re going to make sure that you’re not taken off somewhere. You just have to act normal, what passes as normal for others and not what passes for normal for me and Pepper, and this will all be over. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Thanks for this.”

“You’re welcome,” Obadiah said, scanning the crowd waiting in the hall. He stopped as he saw a man in the suit and got up. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“He’s CIA,” Tony said. “At least, that’s what he told me when I asked him. He’s Agent Coulson. They can have the first name of Agent, right?”

“Right,” Obadiah said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Not a kid,” Tony muttered, watching Obadiah walk off to talk to Agent whoever it was. He felt someone sit down beside him and was about to say something, but smiled instead. It helped to smile at pretty redheads, mostly because it meant that they weren’t pissed at you. “Hello.”

“Hi,” she said. “Natasha.”

“Tony,” he said. “You already go before the firing squad?”

“Yeah, long time ago,” she said, smiling at his confused look. “They’ve had something like this off the books since before we both were born. They dragged me in when I first started working with the agent your friend over there. Same with my partner.”

“Literal sense partner or co-worker?” he asked.

She gave him a look and a smirk. “Both. He’s also jealous and good with an arrow.”

“I’ll keep my hitting on you to here then,” he said, chuckling with her. “Any tips?”

“Answer truthfully,” she said. “Besides, you’re already flagged in case it goes south.”

“Flagged for what?” he asked, watching as she got up. “Natasha, for what?”

“To be a partner,” she replied, going off to where the agent was waiting for her.

“Anthony Edward Stark,” the person at the door called and Tony winced before standing up. The person looked at Obadiah as he stepped up. “Just Mister Stark, sir. You’ll be able to talk to him after.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tony said, moving to go in. “See you on the other side,” he said to Obadiah. He walked in, looking back at the doors before sitting, and seeing the Agent sitting near the back. He took his seat and smiled at the committee. “Morning, I think. It could be afternoon or even the next day.”

One of the committee members chuckled but the head of the committee glared at her. “Mister Stark, I am Senator Stern. Do you understand why you are in front of the committee today?”

“No, considering it’s too early to talk to the defense committee about the missiles my company builds for them. It’s also too early to talk about anything in development at Stark Industries, so I’m all ears, Senator, on why you are wasting my time today,” Tony said. “Unless you and your committee believe I have a way of turning myself into something I’m not. If you do, then I’m all ears because I have obviously left the instructions with you.” That made the Agent in the room chuckle and Tony smirked at that. He looked up to the committee and waited for the reply.

“You are here due to your above genius level intellect,” Senator Stern said, “and the danger it could pose the world.”

“Well, I promise not to become a super villain. You have my word on my honor as a gentleman, which isn’t much, but if that’s really it, I have other things to do with my time.” Tony moved to stand up when the two guards in the room cocked their guns and pointed them at him.

“Sit down, Mister Stark,” Senator Stern said.

Tony did sit down and kept the glare off his face. “My apologies; I didn’t realize that you decided to hire armed killers. I would have brought Hoppy along.”

“Are you done?” Senator Stern asked.

“For the moment.”

“Good,” Senator Stern said. “As I was saying, you have just above genius level intellect. You also have the ability to get yourself into trouble and the ability to create anything you put your mind to. What are the reassurances that you could give us that you will not become a superhero?”

“I have no desire to be any sort of hero to be admired,” Tony said. “I grew up with the stories of Captain America and the Howling Commandos… the time of heroes is over, senators. The time of missiles and then better ones is here and it is what you pay me so well for. Or I can take my weapons elsewhere, considering that I’ve been approached twice by the UK.” He leaned back as the committee started to whisper and their microphones were turned off. He looked at the agent who came over to him. “Hi again.”

“Mister Stark, we need to talk. I’m Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate,” he said, trying to hand Tony a card.

“I don’t like being handed things,” Tony said.

“Right,” Coulson said. “I left a card with Obadiah as well. We need to talk about your weapons and your use in the future.”

“No,” tony said. “But thanks, I think. Oh, and tell Natasha that if she wants a job at Stark Industries to contact me. She’d be able to get the contact information from you guys, right? I mean, spies and all.”

“I’m not really a spy,” Coulson said.

“Well, either way,” Tony said. “And they’re back.” He sat up as Stern’s microphone came on. “Nice chat?”

“Mister Stark, you’re free to go but will be recalled by this committee if we feel the need to speak to you again,” Senator Stern replied. 

“Thank you,” Tony said, getting up. “Let’s not do this again. Ever.” He moved and left the room, going over to Obadiah. “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Obadiah replied, getting up and following Tony to the car.

Natasha watched the two leave and went over to Coulson. “Director’s not going to be happy.”

“We’re going to need a different tactic if we want Stark,” Coulson said. “Might have to send you in, considering he mentioned you. For now, let’s go brief the Director,” he said as the two of them went off to the Triskeleton.


	2. Explaining the Act to Steve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set right after the scene in Time Square at the end of Captain America: the First Avenger.

Steve pushed the plate away from him when he was done trying to eat the soup that was served. Nick Fury was sitting across from him and had answered questions here and there when Steve asked them. He shouldn’t have been so shocked that Howard was gone, even if it was something that sounded far too mundane for the man, and that he left behind a son. “So, we won the war,” he said, “didn’t win the next one and we’ve been in and out of wars for a while now. That much is clear, but why haven’t others stepped up to do more?”

“Others have, here and there, but nobody on the scale that you were able to do,” Fury replied. “Recently, an act of Congress was passed that is basically banning superheroes from existing. Those who do and are a danger to society are funneled into SHIELD. We make the final decision on who is really kept and who is let go.”

“That’s a bit of lying, isn’t it?” Steve asked.

“It keeps everyone happy and free in the end,” Fury said. “We’ve tried to get Stark a few times using the committee. It took him nearly being blown to bits and a reactor in his heart to come around to the idea.”

Steve looked confused and decided it was best not to ask questions. Mostly the ‘what is a reactor’ question being on the tip of his tongue. He just nodded and looked back down into his soup. “So, what does that mean for me?”

“If you want to do missions, then you’re going to need to wear something that covers your face,” Fury explained. “I would like to put you in but it is up to you. If you’re not comfortable yet, then I’m not going to push you unless we absolutely need you.”

Steve nodded. “Alright. Thank you, Director.”

“You’re welcome, Captain,” Fury said. “We’ve got a place for you set up in the city if you want it. We can also help you reconnect to someone if you want to.”

“I don’t know,” Steve said. “There is someone, but I’m not sure if she’d remember me or if it would be too hard on her. So I’ll have to think about it.”

“Alright,” Fury said. “Well, welcome to SHIELD, Captain. It is good to have you back.”

Steve nodded. “Sorry, I just – It’s hard to believe that it’s been so long but it only feels like a few hours to me. I saw it, we’ve talked about it, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

“You just need time,” Fury said. “Which is what we’re giving you. You’ll have someone shadowing you now and then, but they’ll introduce themselves. Well, most of them will and I’ll speak to the ones that are a bit more on the strange side.”

Steve chuckled. “I’m used to strange teammates or co-workers or whatever you want to call them.”

“I like being a co-worker of Captain America,” Clint said from behind Steve. “Sorry Director – Hill needs you and it sounds kind of urgent.”

Fury sighed. “Barton, sit with the Captain and try to be normal.”

“He means be boring,” Clint said but sat down all the same. “Agent Clint Barton, captain.”

“That much I got,” Steve said. “How odd can you be? You don’t look like much.”

“Yeah, but give me a high vantage point with a gun and you might like the results,” Clint replied with a smirk. “My code name is Hawkeye.”

“I’ve heard worse,” Steve said.

“Hey, beggars can’t be choosers. Also, it was given to me by the first guy who trained me and not my choice. But it’s got to be better than Trickshot.”

Steve thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Not sure, but you’re going to be one of the ones shadowing me?”

“Yeah,” Clint says. “I work with a red head named Natasha. She’s nice, just don’t get on her bad side, so you might see her now and then too. I’m going to be heading up the team, so if you’ve got any requests, I wouldn’t mind hearing them.”

“Keep your distance and don’t make it weird? Also, I don’t need anybody to step in to take care of someone for me. I can do that, even if I’m lying flat on my back.”

“That’s no problem,” Clint said. “Any preferences on who might be closest? It’ll probably be me most of the time, but more asking if you want to meet the team first or not.”

Steve shook his head no. “I’ll be fine with them just keeping their distance. And would there be times that you wouldn’t be there?”

“If Coulson – you’ll probably meet him sooner or later, considering he’s a fanboy of yours – needs me on another mission or the Director calls me on something. Or Hill, but that’s as rare as seeing a pig fly.”

“What’s a fanboy?” Steve asked, looking confused.

Clint thought for a moment. “It just means that he’s sort of passionate about all things about you. Other superheroes too but I think he grew up when you were around or just after.”

“Oh,” Steve said. “And you and Agent Hill don’t get along?”

“Let’s just say she had many objections to my coming on and they were not listened to,” Clint said. “Not my fault, but that’s how it is.”

“How did you come on? I mean, why would something like this need a sniper, even a well trained one?”

“Superhero act; I went before the committee and they sent me off without a word from me. Coulson and the Director funneled me in and it’s been downhill in a good way since then. I’ve got more skills than just the one shot,” Clint explained. He got up and gave the Director the seat back. “Sir.”

“You two getting along?” Fury asked.

“Yes sir,” the two said at the same time. Clint grinned at that.

“Good enough for me,” Fury said, handing over the file and a set of keys to Steve. “Building key and apartment key; Barton will drive you over and check out the apartment with you.”

“Thanks,” Steve said, taking the folder and the keys. He stood up and went with Clint out to the car, which was driven over to the apartment. He smiled as he saw a boxing studio close by and other little shops that made him feel a bit more at home. It wasn’t the time he was used to but he had to realize that some things just never change, which was a huge comfort.


	3. A Date, Kind Of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're after the end of Iron Man 3

Tony tried to keep his anger in check as he sat down in the chair next to Rhodey. He already lost it when they both received a summons to appear and it would only work against him to have a temper tantrum in public. He smirked at the thought, if only because Steve called him out on having such a thing, and that calmed him down a bit. He became an anchor ever since New York, being a person he could talk about some things to a bit better than Bruce, but the most important thing to him is that Steve just listened. He didn’t ask questions, unless he was truly confused, and he never realized how much it helped to have someone to just listen. Pepper used to do that, but it never felt as comfortable on the level with Steve.

Tony came back to awareness as Rhodey tapped his shoulder and he stood up as well. He took a chance to look behind them and grinned at seeing the rest of the Avengers in the room. Also Fury leaning against the wall in the back in a bit of shadow. He turned back to the committee and nodded to Senator Stern. “Always good to see you again. Is this about another medal?”

“Sit down Mister Stark,” Stern said a bit sharply.

“Tony, don’t antagonize him,” Rhodey said quietly.

“Yeah, but there’s an audience,” Tony replied, just as quietly, and leaned back in the chair. “So, I’m just assuming that you all missed me and want to thank us for saving the president. Along with bringing the Vice President to justice. You can start that now, but there’s a few less cameras in the room for a thank you.”

“Mister Stark,” a female senator said, leaning forward in her chair so she could be heard through the microphone. “As much as we would like to thank you, you are not in front of this committee for that.”

“You are here due to the Superhero act,” Stern said.

Tony sighed. “Seriously? If anybody is any sort of hero in this, it’s Rhodey. For putting up with me and being a world class pilot. However, there are many media commenters who would say that is super. So, again, you’re wasting time.”

“And yet you were seen through one of the CCTV cameras at the dock jumping from suit to suit when you told this committee that you were just piloting them,” another senator said.

“The majority were either on auto pilot or being remotely controlled,” Rhodes said. “Mister Stark has put some improvements in the suit for them to be manned as well as unmanned. He just has not had the time to inform the committee.”

“And then there’s the threat you gave to the Mandarian,” Stern said.

“Sadly, my anger issues don’t turn me big and green. I just shoot off my mouth,” Tony said. That gave a chuckle from the group behind them and he noticed it was Bruce. “But, I’m confused. Killian has been dealt with. The actor who was playing the Mandarin is securely locked away. So, why is this such a big deal that I was actually in the suits vs not in the suits? There’s nothing in the Act that says the use of technology makes someone a superhero. If that was the case, you’d have to look into and possibly lock up every hacker in the United States, if not the world.”

“The average hacker doesn’t create suits that are known for saving the world,” Stern said. “Do you wish to put anything else in as your defense before we make our decision?”

“Just that I will be calling the president either way and talking to him about how much this stupid act is costing him,” Tony said. “Considering that Stark Industries is looking to not renew the contract with the Department of Defense due to the treatment I’ve had at the hands of this so-called act. That’s about two, three months away? So I’d think very carefully about whatever you decide on. Along with the fact that I will direct Miss Potts to use the remote controlled suits to help any competitor that any of you have in any reelection or presidential campaign. The country would be very interested to know why you’re so against a technology that has helped in more ways than Congress ever could.”

The committee whispered about that and there were a few scared looks at that. “We will return with our decision shortly,” Stern said, cutting off the microphones and leading the committee into a side room.

“You really need to stop threatening people,” Rhodes said.

“That wasn’t a threat,” Tony said. “And I really don’t have to direct Pepper, she’d do that automatically. Probably also throw in War Machine too.”

“Well, the one good thng going for him is the Director’s amused,” Steve said from behind them.

Tony leaned back a bit more, looking up at Steve with a grin. “What do you think so far?”

“That you’re going to break your neck doing that,” Steve replied. “And that you might get thrown in jail.”

“Nah, that’s only for contempt,” Tony said. “Want to get something to eat after this?”

“Maybe,” Steve said. “If it’s not that thing we tried last time.”

“Not my fault you didn’t listen to the waitress about thai food,” Tony said. “How do you feel about sushi? It’s raw fish.”

“Haven’t tried it yet, so sure,” Steve said. “But if I don’t like it, you owe me IHOP.”

“Deal,” Tony said, grinning. “By the way, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, meet Captain Steve Rogers. We’ve got to find a way to bring him onto the team.”

“Director was saying something about a West Coast team if we get too bogged down,” Steve said.

“Considering I’m usually stationed there, it would be too bad,” Rhodey said.

“And since I don’t want to go back to California ever, it would work even better,” Tony said. “Something to think about it. And the pudding brains are back.”

“Pudding brains?”

“He watches too much Doctor Who sometimes,” Rhodey said.

Steve still looked confused. “Explain later?”

“British television show and yes, I will to the best of my ability. Before tying you down to watch some episodes,” Tony said before sitting up straight. “That was fast.”

“Mister Stark, the ruling of the committee is that you and Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes are free to go,” Stern said. “However, we will be watching you. This is the last time that we will be giving you a warning. The next time, you will be put into custody and turned over to the proper people for study.”

“Sounds painful,” Tony said, “but noted. Anything else?”

“No,” Stern said. “We’re done with you. The committee calls Director Nick Fury.”

Tony raised an eyebrow as he stood up, moving to the row where Steve was as Fury was sworn in. He didn’t protest when Steve took his arm and directed him out of the room, followed by Rhodey and the rest of the team. “Progress report, I guess?” he asked when they were outside.

“Yes,” Steve said. “And something that none of us were told to stick around for.”

“You know, if you keep to the rules, you’re never going to learn anything,” Tony said.

“Thought you already knew everything, Stark,” Clint said.

“Confirmation is the second part of the battle though,” Tony replied. “I thought you were leaving before the hearing?” he asked of Bruce.

“Flight was delayed and then canceled. I’m leaving in a few hours, so I should go,” Bruce said. “At least you made it interesting.”

“Have to, from time to time,” Tony said. “You coming back?”

“Few months,” Bruce said and shrugged. “We’ll see. They need doctors where I’m going, so it might be longer. I’ll come back if needed though.”

“Good,” Tony said, before giving Bruce a hug and receiving one in return. He grinned and let him go to catch his flight. “So, lunch?”

“We’ve got to go too,” Natasha said, cutting Clint off before he could say anything. “But you two have fun.” She dragged Clint off before he could protest, but there was a strange look that one master assassin gave the other.

“I’ve got to go report in, but you two have fun,” Rhodes said. “And Tony, really, stay out of trouble for a while. Good meeting you, Captain.”

“I promise nothing,” Tony said.

“You too,” Steve said before turning to Tony. “So, where are we going for… what did you call it?”

“Sushi,” Tony said. “Follow me,” he said and led the way out to the car waiting for them. He opened the door for Steve, letting the Captain get in first before he followed and gave the address for a good lunch place for sushi. His phone beeped and he made a face before reading the text. “Pepper just wanting to know what happened,” he said and sent off a quick recap of what happened. He then turned off the phone and returned it to his pocket. “So, what have you been up to?”

“Different missions here and there,” Steve said, looking at Tony’s chest. “Was the surgery successful?”

“Doctors couldn’t do it in the end,” Tony said. “Too much damage from it shifting whenever the reactor goes out. It’s done that two times now and they’re worried that a third time might be fatal. So I’m looking into ways to make sure it doesn’t.” He smiled at seeing Steve look worried. “Cap, of the two of us, you have to realize that you’re going to outlive me.”

“I don’t like thinking about that,” Steve said quietly.

“Oh. Sorry.” Tony looked out the window for a moment before looking back at Steve, who was watching him. “What?”

“You’re just so strange to me. In a good way, but still, strange all the same.”

Tony raised an eyebrow at that. “And?”

“And this,” Steve said, pulling Tony close and kissing him. He relaxed and kissed deeper as Tony started to kiss him back, breaking only when they needed to breathe.

“You’re full of surprises today, Captain,” Tony said, keeping close. “I’d suggest skipping lunch, but I’m starving.”

“After lunch then,” Steve said, keeping Tony close.

“Definitely,” Tony said, relaxing against the other man and sighing contently. Today started off annoying but it was getting better minute by minute. He only hoped that he wouldn’t screw up whatever was starting between him and Steve.


	4. Under Siege

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're where the fun starts and we're where Winter Soldier ends / right before the end credits scene. Also, feel free to hum Under Pressure by Queen. I did more than once writing this chapter. :D

Tony Stark was bored. When he usually bored, he went and did a project but there wasn’t anything left to do. He made a new suit, just in case, and there weren’t any more doctors to go to. Thanks to what happened in New York and then what happened thanks to the Mandarin, the arc was going to stay where it was. So, at the moment, he had a stack of sharpened pencils and was testing the ceiling with them. He looked up, having six of them up there, before turning in his chair as he heard a cell phone ring. “Legolas, your phone is ringing!”

Clint jumped down from where he was on the second floor. “Your legs aren’t broken.”

“Busy,” Tony said. 

Clint rolled his eyes and answered the phone. “Barton,” he answered and smiled, turning away from Tony and walking out to the balcony.

“At least yours embraces technology,” Tony grumbled. He picked up pencil number 7 and threw it up into the ceiling. He sighed as it stuck and just leaned back in the chair. He turned back around as he heard Clint come back in a lot sooner than thought. “What’s up?”

“Bring up the security footage of the lobby,” Clint said.

“JARVIS, would you mind?” Tony asked. A screen on the wall showed the lobby of the building, where there were seven men in black suits. “So who did you piss off now?”

“More like all of us,” Clint said. “Putting you on speaker.”

“How screwed are we?” Tony asked. 

“At the moment, very,” Natasha said. “Is there another way out of the building? Possibly that doesn’t mean using your suit?”

“Yeah, it’s down a pole to the Batcave,” Tony said, getting up. “JARVIS, start emergency shutdown and get Pepper on the phone.”

“Yes sir,” JARVIS said. The screen showed JARVIS locking down the elevators and the doors to the stairwell as well as putting down trap wires that would admit knock out gas. “Miss Potts, sir.”

“Pepper, where are you at the moment?” Tony asked.

“Putting you on video phone,” Pepper said. Another screen came up to show Pepper in a secure bunker and a very much alive Phil Coulson standing next to her. “I’m at a SHIELD bunker with the new director of SHIELD.”

“Huh,” Tony said, looking at Clint to see the man not surprised and having Natasha off speaker phone. Considering it looked like an argument between the two master assassins, he turned his attention back to the screen. “So, Director Coulson, you made a deal with the devil?”

“More that Fury did so,” Coulson replied. “We need for you and Barton to get out of the Tower and to DC to meet up with Captain Rogers, Agent Romanov, and Agent Wilson. You’ll need to bring your tools to fix Falcon’s – Agent Wilson’s – flight pack.”

“So it worked – awesome,” Tony said. “Are we sure that we want to go into the lion’s den though? Considering the people in the lobby look to be either FBI or CIA.”

“They’re a mix of both,” Clint said from behind Tony, going back to his call.

“Just means that whatever plan there was has gone to hell,” Tony said. “I thought that you and Hill fixed this so we could continue to be here if the world needed us or some crap like that.”

“It’s just a road bump,” Coulson said.

“The CIA and FBI being there to arrest Tony isn’t a road bump,” Pepper said.

“What she said,” Tony said. 

“You and the rest of the Avengers are being classified as terrorists due to the events in New York, LA, the attack on the president, the near assassination of said president – “

“Hey, I helped to stop that. Yeah, Rhodey did most of the work, but that should be counted for something,” Tony said.

“Well, other more persuasive people have the president’s ear,” Coulson said. “Plus there was what happened with the Captain and Widow with the Winter Soldier and HYDRA.”

“I heard that HYDRA was back. How is this not one of their plans to flush us out and kill us all?” Tony asked. 

“We don’t,” Coulson said. “But until we hear otherwise, we have to assume that. Plus, they were using SHIELD to hide since World War 2, so… let’s just say that your father might be rolling over in his grave.”

“I bet he’s doing the macerena due to all of this,” Tony said. “So, Legolas and I will get out of here, get down to DC to have a wonderful reunion, and then – “ He was cut off when his cell phone rang, looked at the caller ID, and answered it. “So you’re finally embracing technology. I’m on another call.”

“Then why did you answer?” Steve asked. “Did Coulson contact you?”

“That’s who I’m talking to. Did everyone know he was alive but me?” Tony asked, giving Coulson a glare.

“Consultant, Stark,” Coulson countered.

Tony flipped Coulson the finger before turning back to his phone call. “Steve?”

“Maybe? But that’s not my fault. Grab what you need and get out of there,” Steve said. 

“Okay,” Tony said. “You’ve been to the Smithsonian?”

“… Yeah, why?” Steve asked

“Meet me in your exhibit tomorrow at ten,” Tony said, ending the call. “Anything else, o Director?”

“Be careful,” Coulson said. “Who else would flip me off, Tony? I’d miss it.”

Tony grinned. “We’ll be safe. Call you when we’re in DC,” he said and ended the call. “JARVIS, how are our guests doing?”

“They’re working on an overdrive for the elevators, sir,” JARVIS said. “It seems that someone with SHIELD is working with them, as it is the same override that Director Coulson once used. You have ten minutes.”

“Start the clock,” Tony said. He turned and saw Clint put a box down on the meeting table in the room. “What’s the plan?”

“Getting out and getting to DC,” Clint replied. “Pack a bag – I’ll give you what you need.”

Tony nodded and did so, grabbing his laptop and other electronic tools he needed. He would grab the tools for the flight pack before he got in the car and went back to Clint with a large backpack. “Done. You should go do the same.”

Clint looked up from what he was doing. “I’m not going with you.”

“… what?” Tony asked. “Widow’s going to kill me if I don’t have you with me.”

“No, she won’t,” Clint said. “Just tell her not to come after me, okay? I have a plan.”

“Kill as many as you can?” Tony asked. “Not a plan.”

“I’m turning myself in and falling back on my CIA alias,” Clint says. He handed Tony a new ID, passport, an ID with a badge, and a good amount of cash. “If you can, get as much money as you can from your account before you leave the state. After you cross state lines, you’re a fugitive and they’re going to freeze your personal accounts. That badge is FBI and it’s to get you through any road blocks. Just keep your sunglasses on and your head down. If possible, use back roads to get to DC.”

“Got it,” Tony said. “Once I leave the building, I can put JARVIS in shut down mode. It’ll shut down the building completely and gives you more than enough time to either get to the copter on the roof or through the same exit I’m taking.”

“Sir,” JARVIS said, “they’re in the elevators.”

“Time to go, Tony,” Clint said.

Tony sighed and gathered up the things that Clint gave him. “Give me the box; I’ll stash it down in the lab. They’ll not be able to go in there for anything.”

Clint nodded, giving up the box and shaking Tony’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Should be the one thanking you,” Tony said. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” Clint said. “Go.”

Tony sighed, going to the private elevator down to the lab. He punched in his code before it went away to come back completely clean of fingerprints. He hid the box in the lab before going to one of his cars, putting his backpack in the front seat. He grabbed what he needed for the flight pack and any other repairs, his new suit in a case, and some cell phones that he made untraceable before driving through the secret access tunnel out to five blocks away from the Tower. He put JARVIS into shut down mode on the Tower and made his way to an ATM. He took out as much as he could before cutting up the card and throwing it into a nearby trash can. He gave the car to a homeless man, stealing the keys from a tourist who left them on an outside table to get up to watch the news. He stopped and stared at Clint behind led out in handcuffs before seeing his face on the news with “Wanted Terrorist” underneath. He sighed, leaving a hundred under the guy’s cell phone, and went to use the stolen car to get the rest of the way to DC.


	5. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody takes the waiting game well.

Steve Rogers, usually a patient man, was pacing now. It didn’t help that, since they saw the news and Clint arrested, Natasha had started swearing in Russian. Along with a few other languages, including German, which made him stay out of her way. Sam was sitting on the couch, using a laptop computer to get information and whistled. “What?” he asked, moving to sit next to Sam on the couch. Sam was on a site called Huffington Post, which had a headline of Superheroes as Terrorists with a picture of Clint being arrested along with his, Tony’s, and Natasha’s pictures up with ‘wanted terrorists’ underneath. 

“So, good news, you’re really famous. Bad news, it’s not the good kind of famous,” Sam said. “She’s going to go after him alone, isn’t she?”

“I really hope not but it’s looking that way,” Steve said. “Talk your way into going with her. I’d feel better about it and it’s not like you’re going to want to be around when Tony shows up.”

“More that you want the apartment to yourself,” Sam said with a wink. “I get it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to tap that.” He laughed at Steve’s look of confusion. “I’ll explain later. Right now, the real question is if he’s going to make it. Which means you should call him if you want to instead of just pacing.”

“Worried about being… I think the word is clingy,” Steve said. “But maybe you’re right.” He reached for the cell phone but put it back down as he heard Natasha come out of her room. She was carrying a bag with her. “Leaving?”

“Got to go save an idiot,” she said. “And then decide if I’m going to slap him or kiss him.”

“I vote both, but that’s just me,” Sam said, getting up. “Want an extra hand?”

“You’re wingless, fly boy,” she said.

“Ouch,” Sam said. “Yeah, but I have other ways to get into places. How do you think I qualified for the wings in the first place? I’m good with a gun, something that nobody would really know, and it beats staying around here and watching Steve walk a line into the carpet.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to take him with,” Steve said from the couch.

She sighed. “Fine; go pack quickly. I want to get going before they really lay into him.” She moved to sit down on the couch while Sam went to pack. “You going to be okay on your own?”

“Won’t be on my own for long and I learned from the best how to lay low.” He grinned at hearing a soft chuckle. “I’m in the slap then kiss camp as well. He probably had more than enough time to get out with Tony and then I wouldn’t be worrying so much.”

“Keep on the news and keep that open. You’ll hear really quick if they manage to grab him. No news is good news, alright?”

He nodded. “Alright.” He was about to say something else when his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

"Mind putting Widow on? Need to ask her how to hot wire a car,” Tony said.

Steve raised an eyebrow, looking to Natasha before turning back to his conversation. “Why not just ask for the keys?”

“Because that’s complicated. I slipped money in an envelope under the door of the room. Now, would you mind?”

Steve handed over the phone before moving into the kitchen and laughing at the absurty of the situation. He smiled as Natasha came in to give him the phone. “He’s back on track?”

“Yes,” Natasha said. “He said he’ll call back in about a half hour and he’s making good time on the back roads. He’ll probably get here sooner than expected.”

“Alright,” Steve said, seeing Sam moving to the door. “Heading off then?”

“Yep. Gotta save an idiot,” she said, giving Steve a quick hug before leaving with Sam.

Steve went back to the couch, turning on the news and looking down at the laptop. He just refreshed the page and the image was still there with new headlines. Including a statement by Stark Industries that the entire situation was a mistake and would be corrected soon. A hour went by before his cell phone rang and he answered with “you said a half hour.”

“Yeah, well, there were cows,” Tony said.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not,” Tony said. “Any updates about Clint?”

“Aside from Natasha and Sam going to get him? Not really. We’re all on the front page of a thing called Huffington Post. And you really need to take a better mug shot, Tony.”

“In my defense, I was high and drunk,” Tony replied. “That was more than a few years ago. Remind me to have someone update it.”

“Aside from you?”

“Exactly,” Tony replied. “Any word from anyone else?”

“Hill put out a statement that this is all a big misunderstanding, but nothing more than that. Also, Coulson or anybody else hasn’t made contact. Do you think that they’re going to or are we truly on our own?”

“Not sure,” Tony said. “I haven’t really been working all that closely with everyone. I’ve done things here and there, but I don’t know the ins and outs. I thought you would know more, considering everything, but I guess not? It’s not a bad thing, it’s just that we need to know what we have for resources and allies. We know our enemies easily enough. Well, guess it doesn’t matter in the end. We’re still meeting at ten, right?”

“Unless you get in early and just want to come here,” Steve said. “Might be easier than finding a hotel and hoping that nobody recognizes you.”

“Might just sleep in the car or on a park bench,” Tony said. “But I’ll think about it. See you soon.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, hanging up and shaking his head at Tony’s plan. He’d keep the time to meet up at the Smithsonian, even though he wasn’t sure if it was the best plan, but it was the only one they had at the moment.


	6. The Smithsonian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, end scene of Winter Soldier where I push fanfic-ness into it. And geeking, but that's due to Tony.

Tony was able to make his way to the Smithsonian, slipping into the line to get in and keeping his face hidden with a Nationals cap. He also had the sunglasses on, which helped with hiding, and he just hoped nobody else would notice him. It was working so far, considering that two security guards didn’t even give him a second glance. Neither did the lady at the counter who gave him the general admin ticket and then the special exhibit. “More or less crowded today because of the news?” he asked, trying to pitch his voice low. It made him sound like he had a cold more than anything.

“About the same,” the woman replied. “Honestly, I don’t believe it. They’ve done too much good for the world to be trying to destroy it. Stupid politicians don’t know when to keep their fat noses out of everything. It’s why we can’t have nice things.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he replied, keeping up the different voice. He took his tickets and made his way to the exhibit, showing his pass to be let in, and decided to take a look around. He stopped in front of the exhibit for Bucky Barnes when someone came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah?” he asked, his mouth dropping open and seeing the real live Bucky in front of him.

“You’re not Howard Stark,” Bucky said, looking confused.

“Um, no. Next generation down,” Tony said. He took Bucky’s arm and steered him away out of sight of the security guards. “Tony Stark. Have you seen Steve around? Or, more importantly, has he seen you?”

“In other ways,” Bucky said. “Why are you here?”

“Meeting Steve,” Tony said. “Long story. Listen, why don’t we find him together and we can fill you in on what’s happening. I never get told anything.” His phone rang and he grabbed it, answering with a “where are you?” He listened on the other end of the line and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Well, just tell them they have to get a warrant and try to get out as much as possible. Were they able to get into the lab?” He chuckled and nodded to Steve as Steve came over. “Well, that’s a blessing in disguise. Yeah, I met up with him. Do you want to say hello?” He rolled his eyes as he got hung up on. “I’m gone a day and people don’t know what to do.”

“They’ll manage,” Steve said, looking at Bucky and then at Tony. “We need to go.”

“He’s coming with,” Tony said. “Also, we’re revising this ‘don’t tell Tony’ things.”

“From what I know, you were busy,” Steve countered. “Still not my fault.”

“I’m going to make it your fault,” Tony grumbled. He started to follow Steve out before stopping and realizing that Bucky wasn’t following him. He made his way back, grabbed Bucky’s hand, and started again after Steve. He stopped after he realized he couldn’t find the man and gave a sharp whistle. A moment of quiet and a sharp whistle back had him going again to where Steve was waiting for him. “I’m not thanking you for teaching me that.”

“You say that now,” Steve said. “You okay?”

“Confused,” Bucky said but was holding onto Tony’s hand tightly. “Where’s Howard?”

“Dead,” Tony said. “I’d say it’s a long story, but car crash. Tragic, both him and mom, but, you know, not the present. Present is getting out of here before all three of us are spotted. Which seems highly likely, so, let’s keep walking and not get separated again. Need rope or something.”

“Not the right place,” Steve said, noticing Bucky chuckling about that. He made the way out of the museum, noticing a camera and directing the other two out of the path of it. They were able to get to Steve’s apartment with Tony looking around before being directed to the electrical outlets to plug different things in. “So, is JARVIS still up?”

“JARVIS is always up; I just have to pull him out of sleep mode in order to make sure that he’s really working.”

“So you wake him?” Bucky asked.

Tony turned around and looked at the two of them. “Alright, how much do I need to explain about modern technology?”

“More that sometimes we won’t get the terms, Tony,” Steve said.

“Well, just ask for me to explain things. Not that hard,” Tony said, plopping down in a chair. “So, what’s the plan to fix SHIELD and make it so we’re not wanted terrorists?”

“I don’t think there is one,” Steve said.

“Why terrorists?” Bucky asked.

“The fight between the two of us and Natasha leaked information online about SHIELD,’ Steve said. “Did I say it right?”

“I would have just dropped the online,” Tony said. “Then there’s my fight against the Mandarin and the Seven Rings, which was not my fault, and Trevor got broken out of prison. Did I tell you that?”

“…No,” Steve said. “Maybe we should let them capture you. You might actually be safe.”

“Safest place is right here,” Tony said, starting to tap on the table and only looking up when hearing the metal hitting the tabletop. He looked up at Steve’s and Bucky’s shocked looks and went “I can explain this.”

“How the hell did you turn yourself into a robot?” Steve asked.

“I was more wondering how you can make it go away,” Bucky said.

“Getting to that. So, remember how you’ve been told there’s been tons of people trying to recreate your serum? Well, one of them is called Extremis and it’s what all those people were injected with when I was going up against the Mandarin. Killian injected himself with it and… well, Maya and I figured the best way to defeat Killian while learning about what else it could do was to inject me. I was just able to modify it and make it give me new organs and hollow out my bones for the armor. Since I did that, I really can never remove the reactor – kind of found that out the hard way during surgery.” Tony took a breath. “Oh, and I really don’t need the electronic devices. I just like having them around.”

Steve just stared at Tony and then looked at Bucky. “Drink?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said before staring at Tony as well. “So… what all can it do?”

“Hacks the repair center and heals the body,” Tony said. “It takes anywhere from one to three days to come out of the cocoon and be able to have better organs. The problem is that there needs to be a specific genetic component as well that only a small percent of the population has. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones. But if you’re talking about your metal arm, I can make that better without any sort of magic serum. It’ll still be robotic, but it won’t be metal. It’ll be better than metal, either with finally figuring out how to make more of what his shield is made out of or something else entirely.”

Steve came back with a drink for Bucky and himself before giving his drink to Tony. “Alright, so you don’t have to carry around an extra suit all the time.”

“Nope,” Tony said, grinning. “The really neat thing is that I was kind of already working on something similar. Wasn’t going that great, mostly because I was half way down the building before the suit was able to come to me – when Loki threw me out of the tower – but it did save me in the end. Now it’s just there.”

“Huh,” Steve said.

Bucky downed his drink. “So, now that we know all of that, what’s the plan, Steve? And why are you two willing to trust me?”

“You’re family,” Steve said.

“And you’re my favorite in the stories dad told about the Commandos,” Tony said. “So, you were coming with, if only so I could actually pick your brain. Not literally. First time I said that to Steve, he really thought I was going to open his skull. Comedic, but not really happening.”

“Okay,” Bucky said. “Is he always like this?”

“It grows on you,” Steve said, grinning at Tony. “As for the plan, we stay low until we get something. We really can’t be seen going around places or… well, it won’t end well. Sam and Natasha went to go break Clint out of the jail – “

“Has she started call him the idiot yet?” Tony asked.

“Yes,” Steve said and chuckled at Tony’s laugh. “So, until Coulson calls us or we have to move, we stay here.”

“Got it,” Tony said. “I’m going to go raid the fridge.” He disappeared into the kitchen, letting Steve and Bucky talk, and let out a long breath. The tension went out of his body as he realized he didn’t have to be worried in the end about Steve freaking out too much about the Extremis. He looked through the fridge and put together the leftovers into something that could easily be called dinner.


	7. Bedfellows

Tony sighed as he started to flip through the channels yet again. He had a mental note that he was going to tell Steve about how he expanded Steve’s cable package but the man left early for that damned run. Not that it mattered in the end, but the laying low meant staying in one place. That could just be him, considering that Bucky looked like he was going stir crazy too. It had just been a day but he seemed to be holding up the best out of all of them. Not what he’d expected, but, eh, it worked. He was about to flip through again when he turned back to the news channel that had a breaking news alert. 

“They got him out then,” Bucky said, noticing Natasha leading a charge to get into the prison.

“Looks that way, considering the jail break part,” Tony said, chuckling. “Coulson’s going to have a heart attack. I wish I could be there. Well, maybe not, but it would be funny.”

“If you say so,” Bucky said.

“More knowing the person than anything else,” Tony said, flicking off the TV with his fingers rather than the remote. “Speaking of knowing, mind if I take a look at your arm? Since we seem to be waiting on Steve and there’s nothing on.”

“How can you tell if nothing’s on? You went too fast,” Bucky said but moved over, moving up his shirt sleeve so Tony could see.

“Trust me then,” Tony said. He moved up the shirt sleeve a bit more before just taking the shirt off all together. “Mind if I move it around and everything?”

“No,” Bucky said.

Tony grinned, looking back at the arm and gently touching around where it met the skin. “Just tell me if anything hurts.”

“Why would it?” Bucky asked.

“Because it looks to be as part of you as you are part of it,” Tony said. “And because, despite all evidence to the contrary, I don’t fully know what I’m doing. So, if I hurt you, give out an ouch or something and I’ll stop. Or maybe won’t stop because I’m close but will know to wrap up. Okay?”

Bucky nodded. “Are you always like this?”

“Depends on the person,” Tony said. He ran his fingers up the arm, “Bionic; recently upgraded, looks like before you were sent after SHIELD. They wanted to make sure you had all the bells and whistles in case someone called in everyone else. Good idea, in the long run, but we’re still working out kinks. Plus, we like to work on our own problems.”

“Why?” 

Tony blinked. “Well…” he sat back and thought for a long moment. “Mine was more personal than anything else. They attacked my family.”

“You have siblings?” Bucky asked.

Tony chuckled. “No; people who are family in everything but blood. I just couldn’t let that stand, so I took it on myself. I did that before too, but we weren’t the Avengers just yet. Natasha and Clint were still just agents, I think Steve was still under ice, and Bruce – you’ll meet Bruce sometime – was off trying not to turn into the big guy. How are you dealing with the influx of memories?”

“It wasn’t all at once, so okay, I guess.” Bucky just watched Tony go back to his examination before saying “Steve’s family to me too.”

“Just family?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want to step on any toes if you two are thinking of restarting again. Or anything else.”

“I think he’s moved on,” Bucky said. “We were mostly playing at the time. He was more interested in Peggy as time went on and… well, life happened. Can’t really fault it for happening in the end.”

“Life meaning you falling off the train?” Tony asked, reaching where the arm ended. He rested his hand there before gently pressing down. He stopped when Bucky hissed in pain. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. Sometimes I don’t even know when there’s pain.”

“We’ll work on it,” Tony said, adding that to the list of things to work on in his head. “Strange question – do they ever take the arm off?”

“Um, not sure. Please don’t?”

“Got it,” Tony said, removing his hand. “So, really, I can make upgrades here and there, but it’s really not going to help much. They were keeping you up to date as much as possible. When you feel comfortable, we can talk about removing it.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said before moving and kissing Tony deeply. Tony froze for a moment before kissing back, laying back and pulling Bucky with him. They broke the kiss when the door opened and Steve came in, seeing Bucky on the couch.

“Oh,” Steve said. “Is Tony up?”

“Yes,” Tony said from the couch. He moved up to a sitting position, watching Steve move to the kitchen and then looked at Bucky. “Um.” He thought for a moment, kissed Bucky’s cheek, and got up to go into the kitchen. “So.”

“Don’t,” Steve said sharply.

“For the love of – you know how I am!”

“Yes and I don’t want to be part of it if you’re just going to do something with whoever you want!” Steve replied.

“Steve, it’s not his fault,” Bucky said quietly from the doorway. “I started it. I’ll leave if you want.”

“I don’t know what I want yet aside from a change of clothes, so you two can go back to fondueing,” Steve said, going into his room. As he moved to close the door, Tony shoved it back and moved into the room, closing it behind him.

“How about you listen for a change instead of just assuming?” Tony asked. “And yes, I knew what you meant. Dad loved to tell that story and it was one of my favorites as a teenager. So, what the hell is wrong?”

“Are you really going to understand or do you just want to hear so you can pretend you’re listening?”

“I can’t do both?” Tony asked. He caught the shirt lobbed at him and grinned. “Explain yourself, Captain, or maybe I will go fondueing. I happen to enjoy bread and cheese.”

Steve sighed. “It’s just – I always had a hard time getting anybody to notice me. You did, but then Bucky came along and… well, it’s just a rerun of my life. Now that I think about it, I never thought I wouldn’t want it to happen again. I’ve missed him, but I have you now and I don’t want to lose you.”

“If you think you’re getting rid of me that easy, you are so wrong,” Tony said. “You know how I like the idea of threesomes.”

“Maybe,” Steve said. “Go make breakfast.”

“I’ll have to find the fondue pot first,” Tony quipped, getting himself shoved out of the bedroom with that one. He grinned and went to the kitchen, getting the coffee started and then the bacon and eggs. He motioned for Bucky to sit and poured the man a cup of coffee when it was ready. “Steve! If you take longer, I’m going to burn your part of the bacon!”

“And you’re the one who doesn’t like to keep any sort of time,” Steve said, coming into the kitchen. He got his own cup of coffee and sat down next to Bucky. “Tony had an idea.”

“A perfect idea,” Tony added.

“Ignore him,” Steve said. “I usually do when he gets like this.”

“Now I really am burning your bacon,” Tony said.

“Do and I’ll just eat yours,” Steve replied. “Bucky, how would you feel about joining Tony and me in our sort of relationship?”

Bucky blinked. “When did you start coming around to new ideas so fast?”

“I blame Tony,” Steve said.

Tony was going to retort but then shrugged and finished up cooking. He plated up the food and served it before getting a cup of coffee for himself. “Fine, I take full credit.”

“You really sure about this?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “I do think that there should be a back out clause if it starts to not work.”

“Honor system; speak up if you don’t like something, otherwise, try it and see if it doesn’t work but just feels uncomfortable at the time,” Tony said, starting to eat. “You two can hash out more if you want. I’ve got to eat and fix the angel pack.”

“The what?” Bucky asked.

“Falcon’s wings. Why are you calling it that?” Steve asked.

“Got the idea while watching some sort of movie with angels in it,” Tony said. “Rhodey said something about falcons and it stuck. And it sounded better. Usually his names don’t sound better; I mean, Iron Patriot for War Machine? He needs help.”

“… I like Iron Patriot more,” Steve said.

“You’re lucky you’re cute then,” Tony said, finishing up eating and taking his coffee over to the living room.

“He’s strange,” Bucky said. “But I like him. Good kisser.”

“That I will agree with you on,” Steve said, grinning. The two ate in silence, with Steve doing the dishes when they were done, and then starting to talk about the past. He was happy to work out Bucky’s memories, being surprised at some things even he forgot, and growing closer together with the newest addition to his strange romance with Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would apologize for the chapter title and then it not leading to anything, but I'm not that nice. Well, I am. Sorry!


	8. Dinner and a Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a Cubs fan, I would warn others that making fun of a Cubs fan is included in this chapter. Y'all get to guess who it is. :)

It had been a long day, mostly with Tony working and cursing what he was doing. Both had given up asking if Tony needed help, leaving him alone to do what he wanted. Steve went without giving Tony anything to eat, considering Tony laughed at the idea of lunch. However, it was close to dinner and Bucky decided to go take a shower. Instead of joining Bucky, Steve came over to where Tony was looking through the cabinets and talking to himself. He kneeled down and leaned his chin on Tony’s shoulder. It stopped Tony from what he was doing and take a deep breath. “That’s a start. Now, what are you looking for?”

“A drink,” Tony said. “You had some last night.”

“It was only a bit left over from a long time ago,” Steve said. “Plus, between you and Bucky, you drank all of it.”

“This just means that we should go out for dinner.” Tony closed the doors of the cabinet. “I fixed the wing pack.”

“I saw,” Steve said. “Bucky’s getting cleaned up and then we’ll go somewhere for food, okay? Unless you’re going to die of hunger.”

“Can’t anymore,” Tony said. “You and Bucky are the only two who know outside of Pepper.”

Steve blinked. “You didn’t tell SHIELD? Tony – “

“Yeah and then that would be out in the world too. No thanks to that,” Tony said. “Best kept to the chest and I was right about that. So, you can be angry at me, but can you really say that it’s not what I would have done with anything else? Coulson had to drag me kicking and screaming into the place with Fury’s help. If it wasn’t for him and the stupid act, I would have just told the world that I’m Iron Man. Because, I am and I want the world to know and fuck this stupid act.” He took a deep breath. “That felt better than any sort of drink. Still wanting one though.”

“You have a problem.”

“Several. Shall we go through them now? I don’t think we have the time,” Tony quipped.

“First step of working through a problem too,” Steve said. “Willing to go through the rest?”

“No,” Tony said. “Bad enough that I had to see a shrink before everything tanked.”

“Maybe you’ll start again when everything’s okay? Or not?” Steve asked.

“Probably not,” Tony said. “I’ve got you and Bucky to help now.”

“I like that,” Steve said, getting up and helping Tony up. He nodded to Bucky, who looked a lot better after the shower and some clean clothes. “Ready?”

“Why?” Bucky asked.

“Going out for dinner,” Tony said, grabbing his hat and sunglasses. “Mostly because Steve has nothing to drink.”

“One of his many other issues is drinking when he’s nervous,” Steve said, grabbing his own hat and sunglasses. He threw a hat to Bucky, who caught it and put it on, before following Tony out of the apartment. The three of them just went up the street to a popular bar but were able to snag the last table before anybody else got there. 

“Huh, Nationals are playing,” Tony said, pointing out the flat screen TV. “And losing to the Yankees, but we’ll ignore that fact for now.”

“Steve’s a Cubs fan,” Bucky said.

“I can see that,” Tony said. “You saw them win their last world series, right?”

“I hate the both of you,” Steve joked.

“More that you pretend to,” Tony said, waving over a waitress. “Three beers, whatever’s best on tap,” he said after she handed out menus. “If nobody minds.”

“You’re not getting your usual?” Steve asked.

“Look at the bar,” Tony said.

Bucky and Steve both did, noticing a man and woman dressed in black suits. The woman had dark hair that was tied back and looked to be of Asian descent while the other one looked to be typically American. The odd thing was they weren’t talking to each other and she looked tense at him while he just relaxed. “And?” Steve asked.

“Could be FBI, could be CIA. Could also just be two cops enjoying a beer after a tense day at work,” Bucky said. “But he’s got a point about not drawing attention to ourselves.”

“Didn’t think you had it in you,” Steve said to Tony.

“I think it’s my turn to hate you now,” Tony said, smiling at the waitress when she came back with three beers. “We’re going to need a minute, thanks,” he said. “So, probably just order burgers and fries. I’ll wait on my scotch until they’re gone or we’ll hit up a liquor store on the way home.”

“Thought you said low profile,” Bucky said.

“Not… okay, now I hate you too,” Tony said, rolling his eyes as Bucky laughed.

Steve smiled and thought about something, looking up at the two at the bar. “Tony, can’t you do something with your new toys and figure out who they are?”

“Too much noise,’ Tony said. “They’ve got well hidden ear pieces but I can’t make out who is on the other end. One sec.” He flipped off the TV, making it look like a power surge before focusing in on the two at the bar.

“Any readings on what just happened?” the woman asked.

“Seems like a power surge,” the woman on the other end said. “Coming from the table where Stark is. PC, did you know he could do that?”

“No, but then again, Stark doesn’t tell me anything,” Coulson said. “Ward, May, can either of you see if they’re still there?”

Tony let go of the conversation as the lights came back up. “I’m ordering my scotch; they’re on with Coulson through the ear pieces.”

“Ah,” Steve said. He raised an eyebrow as the mentioned drink came to Tony.

“From the lady at the bar,” the waitress replied, motioning to a blonde woman with ice blue eyes who was watching them.

Bucky took the drink out of Tony’s hands, getting up. “Time to go.”

“Why?” Tony asked, getting up as Steve did. Steve was about to ask the same question when an explosion came from the kitchen. The next thing he knew, Tony was pushing him down, covering him as more blasts came and the ceiling came down on them, blacking them both out.


	9. The Cavalry

Tony groaned as he woke up, considering the lights in the room were too bright and he just closed his eyes tighter. Sure, he could probably do it himself but there was a pounding in his head that wasn’t going away. So, he decided to just put the pillow his head was resting on over his head. The one problem with that was that his right arm wouldn’t move. “Oh crap,” he said, opening one eye and seeing that he was just handcuffed to the bed rail. He tried the left arm and noticed it was the same way. “Seriously? What the hell?”

“They think we caused the explosion,” Steve said.

Tony opened his eyes and saw Steve sitting across from him. However, that hurt, so he closed his eyes again. “Are you handcuffed too?”

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Are you alright?”

“My head hurts like hell. How are you okay?”

“You pulled out the armor to cover me instead of covering yourself like an idiot,” Steve replied. “And we got pulled out by paramedics and the police were there before anybody could step in for us.”

“Lovely,” Tony said. “The lights need to be turned down.” He sighed as they were turned off, save for the one above his bed. “So much better.”

“Any other problems, Mister Stark?” the doctor asked.

Tony opened his eyes and noticed it was the same Asian woman from at the bar. “Yeah. So, how’s Coulson?”

“Keep your voice down,” she said. “I’m Agent Melinda May. Agent Ward is doing what he does best in talking our way out of here.”

Steve was about to say something as there was a tap at the window. He grinned at seeing Sam and tried his best to way. “If you can, you’ll want to open that window before he tries to blast it open.”

“Typical superheroes,” May said, moving over and getting the window open for Sam to fly in. 

“Excellent, they work. Not that I had any doubt that they wouldn’t. It’s just nice to know that they do,” Tony said. “Are you going to get the handcuffs off or should I pull out the Swiss army knife?”

“Didn’t you turn yourself into that, basically?” Steve asked.

May shook her head, undoing Tony’s cuffs and then moving over to undo Steve’s. “You really shouldn’t be moved, Mister Stark, but we don’t have a choice at the moment. Not unless you want to spend the night in jail.”

There was a small commotion outside before Clint appeared at the doorway into the room. “He wouldn’t the night. And think of all the others in there who would have to listen to him.”

“If you haven’t already killed them with boredom,” Tony said.

“We need to get Bucky,” Steve said.

“He’s outside helping Natasha,” Clint said. “Interesting guy.”

“That is the short and long of it,” Tony said. He started to stand up before sitting back down again. He held up a hand before grabbing the closest thing to him and vomiting. “Alright, so it’s a bit behind in actually working to heal me.”

“You going to be okay in getting up or do you want me to carry you?”

“I vote carry but for less that I’m not feeling well,” Tony said.

“Yeah, you’re fine,” Steve said, helping Tony up and making their way out to the hallway. Which had all the guards that were previously upright down on the floor either in pain or unconscious. “Good to know that you don’t really need us to clear a room.”

“Less fun too,” Natasha said. “You two going to be alright?”

“Nothing a stiff drink won’t fix,” Tony said.

“You’ve got a concussion; no drinking for a while,” Clint said. “At least, that’s what I was told the last time I had one.”

“Was that the one Natasha gave you or another one?” Tony asked.

“If it was, I would be calling it something else,” Clint said.

“As much as this is amusing, we need to go now before they send in reinforcements,” Ward said.

“Man’s right for once,” May said, leading the way down the fire escape and out to an alley where a black van was waiting for them. They got into the back and she tapped on a panel in the front. “All here, boss.”

The panel opened to show Triplett in the driver seat and Coulson looking at them. “You six are the oddest bunch of children I’ve ever met.”

“Can I plead concussion and we table the lecture for later?” Tony asked. “And you’re really including Cap in this? He didn’t do anything.”

“You get a special one later, Stark,” Coulson said. “After you get the rectal probe.”

“What, no shock therapy?” Tony asked, grinning at hearing Clint’s snort and seeing Coulson send a glare the archer’s way. “We only got caught for a short while and, really, lecturing will not be helpful.”

“Yes, but you didn’t help matters,” Steve said. “And you’ve probably hidden everything from them and, just like you were pissed with them hiding things, they’re returning the favor. You shouldn’t be shocked.”

“Thank you for being the voice of reason,” Coulson said. 

“Fine. I will explain everything. Where are we going?” Tony asked.

“A SHIELD site,” Coulson said. “Where all of you are staying until I figure out what to do with you. And Tony, Pepper did tell me about the Ultron project.”

“It’s stupid and big brotherish,” Clint said.

“You’ve already made your objection,” Tony said. “Even though he’s right; it is big brotherish but we also kind of need it if we’re not allowed to be out in daylight. Or nightlight. Or any other kind of light. Besides, can’t we say it’s under one of the alphabet soups that run the country anyways? New drone program. The president can’t run with that?”

“CIA would work,” Natasha said.

“CIA is a good default for whatever it is,” Bucky said.

“Those two agreeing is kind of scary,” Steve said.

“Old country habits,” Clint said, which got him a slap from Natasha. “Joke, Tasha.”

“He might be onto something,” Tony said, which earned him a hit from Bucky. “Hey, injured man here.”

“You’ll be fine,” Bucky said. “I think.”

“Fine is subjective,” Tony said. “So, Director, how do you like the job so far?”

“Barrel of laugh with all of you,” Coulson said, turning around to see where they were going.

“He likes it,” Tony said. He settled against Steve, listening to the people talking around him as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could swear that I only meant it figuratively at the start of writing this chapter, but nobody would believe me. :)


	10. New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There may or may not be a spoiler for season 2 in here about what they're calling the place they went to at the end of season 1. I cannot remember if they named it. That said, that is the only thing about the new season, if it is new, that's here. Enjoy!

Steve tensed up as they entered a dark tunnel, if only because he still wasn’t sure where they were going. Coulson wouldn’t say anything more than it was a safe place, which was okay for the rest of the group, but he wished the new Director would answer more questions. Even stranger was the fact that Tony was sleeping against him. He looked at Bucky, who gave a reassuring smile, and that helped a bit with the anxiety. “What’s this place called?” he asked as they came into a well-lighted bunker.

“Welcome to the Playground,” Coulson said. “Although, we’ve been slowly renaming it home.” He got out of the van, opening up the back and letting the others get out. “We’ll double check Tony to make sure there’s no lasting damage as well as a million other tests that need to be run.”

“Including the rectal probe, right?” Tony asked sleepily. “Only Steve or Bucky gets to do that.”

“TMI Stark,” Natasha said.

“Like you can really talk,” Tony quipped. “Oh, look, more new – actually, I know you,” he said about Skye. “You were a consultant on a tangle we were having on the company computers. Something about a Tide?”

“Rising Tide,” Skye said. “They hacked in and I didn’t feel it was good for them to have your secrets. So I shut them out. Got flack for it, but, in the end, I didn’t care. You’re one of the good guys.”

“Huh,” Tony said. “Good to know. See? She trusts me.”

“That’s really not going to help,” Coulson said as Billy Koenig came over. “This is Agent Koenig who will do orientation and lanyards.”

“If they pass the machine,” Koenig added.

Clint and Natasha shared a look before both smirked. “Okay,” Natasha said.

“You two will sit in the machine as yourselves, thank you,” Coulson said, giving both of them a stern look. “Stark, go have FitzSimmons look at you.”

“Both of us?” Fitz asked.

“Considering what I’ve been told, he’s half machine, so yes,” Coulson said. He watched Tony go with the two with Bucky following and looked to Steve. “A moment?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, watching the other three go off with Koenig while Ward went off with Skye. “What’s the machine?”

“Big lie detector,” Coulson said. “Both have fooled it with both of them looking like the other one. However, he really will shoot them, so it’s best to give a warning. Nearly shot Ward because Ward was being a triple agent under our nose due to orders from the Director.”

“Former director, sir,” May said.

“She’s around to keep me honest,” Coulson said. “How’s Barnes?”

“Bucky will be fine,” Steve said. “He’s… stable, in a way. Tony’s helping with that. It’s complicated, which is the best that can be said about the relationship at the moment, but I’m not about to turn him out. Besides, doesn’t SHIELD have a record of taking in turned agents?”

“We do,” Coulson said. “But I wanted to make sure.”

“I vouch for him personally,” Steve said. “Now, what has been explained to you about Tony?”

“Pepper explained what he did with Extremis,” Coulson said. “He told you?”

“And saw it in action,” Steve said. “Agents May and Ward did too, when Tony turned off the power. It’s… freaky, even for him.”

“Alright,” Coulson said. “But he’s stable?”

“Aside from the knock on the head? Yeah,” Steve said. “Even that was strange.”

“Him being overprotective? That’s par for the course,” Pepper said, coming over to them. “And Hill’s on the phone for you about something in DC.”

“May will show you to where they’ve taken Stark to examine and we’ll talk more later,” Coulson said, following Pepper to go answer the call.

“Come with me, Captain,” May said, leading to where FitzSimmons were running different tests on Tony.

“Way different than a rectal probe,” Steve said. 

“Nicer too,” Tony said. “You’re not going to understand what you’re drawing there.”

“We’ll figure it out,’ Simmons said. “Captain, if you don’t mind, I’d also like to draw yours and Barnes as well.”

“Why?” Bucky asked.

“She’s a life scientist,” May explained. “And will probably live out the curiosity will kill the cat metaphor.”

“Did a bit, thanks,” Fitz said. “Not doing it again.”

“Agreed, once in enough,” Simmons said, taking Tony’s blood. “He’s also fine from the concussion, as it seems like the last effects are going away now.”

“Good,” Steve said. He let Simmons draw the blood first before being there to help her draw the blood from Bucky. After that, they were shown to a room where the three curled up against each other. “So, we’ll just go where Coulson points us.”

“Simplest plan is the best,” Tony said quietly. “More sleep though.”

“Agreed,” Bucky said. “No more needles unless Tony’s using them.”

“Alright,” Steve said quietly. It was the plan, as much as there was one. He had a different one in mind, taking down HYDRA members, but that could wait. It would wait until all the questions that Coulson could ask about Extremis are done and the missions assigned. Bucky with him, sometimes Tony as well, the three of them against the world that only sees them as terrorists.


End file.
